A few years ago I needed to take time off from lifting (my shoulders were sore and school kept me busy). Well now I am slowly getting back into the mix of things but I have a slight problem. You see I have a very large bench and when I got this years ago I thought it was going to be no problem...however considering I am a short individual this makes bench pressing difficult...my question is how important is the bench press? I have a standard set up at home..no dipping station or anything like that...I was thinking about working a 3x3 routine and instead of bench press i was thinking of doing shoulder presses...give me some feed back...

Bench works the chest. Shoulder press... well 'nuff said. If I am reading correctly into your post, the problem is that your bench is to high. Your feet dangle or you can't get comfortable. I have had shorter friends use my setup at the house and complain of the same problem. We used 50 lb dumbells as a foot rest and it fixed the problem. A block of 4X4 might work as well.

How important is the bench? Depends on who you are asking. I believe the all your workouts should revolve around the bench, squat, press and deadlift, not necessarily all in one day.

While it is probably a good idea to get some form of bench into your program, it doesnt need to be the cornerstone unless you are a powerlifter or one of the select athletes that needs huge pushing power (throwers, lineman in football etc). Even in those cases, overhead pressing is probably just as important.

Bench works the chest. Shoulder press... well 'nuff said. If I am reading correctly into your post, the problem is that your bench is to high. Your feet dangle or you can't get comfortable. I have had shorter friends use my setup at the house and complain of the same problem. We used 50 lb dumbells as a foot rest and it fixed the problem. A block of 4X4 might work as well.

How important is the bench? Depends on who you are asking. I believe the all your workouts should revolve around the bench, squat, press and deadlift, not necessarily all in one day.

My .02. You can give me back change.

can you please explain a little more about the 4x4? how many would i need? see the problem i begin running into is the fact i am disabled...yes everything works for me just fine i just have to leave enough room to transfer and to move around and get up and down on and off the bench..

Well, I think he means you would use the 4x4 or whatever thickness you need to "raise the floor" so that your legs are the correct length relative the bench. You should just set this on the floor beneath your feet and you would push your legs into that instead of the floor, giving you the right setup on the bench.

Well, the original poster said he was going to work a 3X3 routine, and to me, that brings into my mind Kortes 3X3 which is a periodized PL program, but applicable to anything, really. It consists of only SQ, DL, and BP, done 3X week on all 3 lifts. A press or Pushpress would fit in nicely. Also, there are many adaptations of the thing. See
http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/korte.htmI have also heard of and done another program that goes by the 3X3, but it is a metabolic type of thing and doesn't include the BP. It's DL, dip and chin done back to back in the 10-15 rep range for all three lifts, and is done for 3 rounds, no rest between exercises, and catch your breath only between rounds.
Tim

If you're just coming off a shoulder injury you may want to try doing a cycle of lighter weights with higher reps. In fact, it's a good idea to alternate high and low rep cycles even if your not injured, since going super heavy all the time can be very rough on joints. Another alternative would be to alternate from workout to workout.

Also, it's a good idea to work on pulling movements like rows and chins, if your not already, since an imballance between pushing and pulling muscles can contribute to shoulder problems.

Hi Matt. Just for background for you and others, the original poster and I go back 6 years or so (nofear-aol training boards). His disability is brittle bones. He can't physically do a lot while on two feet, but can (and has) adapted well by doing a lot of hip work while on a bench (seated GM's, etc). With that in mind, his shoulder injury might be difficult to fix. All suggestions you and others can throw at him , he will try (with caution-LOL). He is amazing with is resilency.
Tim

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